Repsol Renewables Lava Run Project Clears Key Vote Amid Local Opposition

Despite dozens of White Mountains residents packing the hearing room at Hon-Dah Resort Casino in "Stop Lava Run" shirts, the Arizona Power Plant and Transmission Line Siting Committee voted 8-2 to approve a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility for Repsol Renewables' proposed Lava Run Interconnection Project. The approval was short-lived: the Arizona Corporation Commission then voted unanimously to remand the application back to the committee, a procedural reversal that could delay construction of both generating facilities.

The project at the center of the dispute is a 345-kilovolt aboveground generation-tie transmission line, described in applicant filings as up to 29 miles long, though the Arizona Corporation Commission's own summary puts the figure at 27 miles. The line would connect Repsol subsidiaries CG Apache County Wind LLC and CG Apache County Solar LLC to the regional grid through Tucson Electric Power Company's existing Springerville 345 kV Substation at the Springerville Generating Station. The two facilities it would serve total 950 megawatts: a 500 MW wind project and a 450 MW solar facility that includes an on-site battery energy storage system.

The Commission's unanimous remand followed last-minute intervention by Apache County officials, who sent correspondence on the day of the ACC's open meeting requesting a delay pending the County Planning and Zoning Commission's approval of a Conditional Use Permit for the project. The ACC also asked Apache County to formally file a notice of interest in the docketed matter, which carries docket numbers L-21364A-25-0198-00250 and L-21365A-25-0198-00250. The Commission acknowledged that its own jurisdiction is limited: the ACC oversees transmission lines and generation-tie infrastructure, not the renewable energy facilities themselves.

The proposed transmission corridor would cross State Trust Land, adding another layer of permitting beyond the CEC process. Henry Woltag, Senior Director of Development at Repsol Renewables North America, signed the September 11, 2025 public hearing notice on behalf of both CG Apache County Wind LLC and CG Apache County Solar LLC. The notice listed Jeremy Casteel at SWCA Environmental Consultants in Flagstaff as the public contact for the project.

At the Line Siting Committee hearing, several area residents voiced environmental and safety concerns before the committee. Protest signs and matching "Stop Lava Run" shirts marked the opposition as organized and unified, with community members questioning the proposed transmission corridor's impact on the local environment. The committee nonetheless moved forward 8-2 before the ACC's unanimous remand returned the matter to the committee floor.

With the Conditional Use Permit process at the Apache County Planning and Zoning Commission still unresolved, the path forward for both the 500 MW wind project and the 450 MW solar facility remains contingent on multiple overlapping approval tracks moving in parallel.